Thanks. I looked through the rest of the itinerary and found that most of those ships will be at our first port of call. After that, we have the ports to ourselves for the remainder of the trip, with only one other ship at Fort Larderdale on our return.

Traffic going in can be hairy, but there are signs to the different sections of the port. We have sailed out twice, and only issues were really traffic getting in, but it is a big place and sectioned fairly well.

If you go to Reviews / Ports, select your port. About halfway down on the right margin you can input the date you will be there. The page will tell you what ships will be in the port and how many passengers.

If you go to Reviews / Ports, select your port. About halfway down on the right margin you can input the date you will be there. The page will tell you what ships will be in the port and how many passengers.

I wonder what else this site is hiding that I haven't found yet!

I must be blind (or my brain is fried) because I can not find what you are talking about... Can't even find Port Everglades/Ft Lauderdale.

Fort Lauderdale's port is big... I'm mean really big. While traffic will be heavy, it depends on where your ship is positioned within the maze of berths as to how long you might be sitting in a taxi. Just keep in mind that the people who work at the port and the taxi/bus drivers are seasoned when it comes to multiple ships in port, etc.
Leave plenty of time to get from your hotel (or airport) to the ship. As long as you get to the ship embarkation point and begin the check-in process, you will be in good shape and have nothing to get nervous about.

Fort Lauderdale will be hosting 9 ships and over 23,000 passengers when I embark on my next cruise.

Is the port set up well enough to handle this easily?

How much of a problem will parking be?

That’s a “slow day” – their record is over 54,700 passengers turned in a day. You need your passport/ID and maybe proof that you’re on a ship that day to get on port property, so don’t leave that stuff in the trunk. After that it’s very well signed to find your ship. Drop your bags with a porter and they can direct you to the appropriate parking garage; always plenty of room when we’ve been there. Depending on the terminal, there may be a short shuttle ride from the garage back to the ship, so dropping your bags off first is important. Happy cruising!

I'll be driving in from the Satellite Beach (Cape Canaveral) area that morning (about 170 miles north on I-95). Leaving at 6:00 AM should be a good idea?

That sounds a little early; you may be sitting in the terminal for a while. We take the turnpike down from Orlando, leave at 7:30 to get there about 10:30. Most ships seem to start boarding around 11:30 (but we’ve seen everything from 10:00am to 3:00pm for boarding depending on how smoothly the previous cruise disembarked). Also, if you’re there too early the folks who cruised the previous week may not have vacated the parking spaces yet.

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